Day 5: The Black Cat (1934)
Posted in2016 31 Days of Horror Classics

Day 5: The Black Cat (1934)

Day 5 of our 31 Days of Horror brings a double whammy in the form of the two great masters of horror cinema: Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. 1934's The Black Cat is very loosely adapted from Edgar Allan Poe's story of the same name, and it is the first of seven Lugosi/Karloff pairings. When I say it leaves no holds barred, I mean it leaves no holds barred. Necrophilia, pedophilia, Satanic rituals, ailurophobia (a deathly fear of cats!), torture, flaying...they all come into play as the film unfolds in a nightmarish and truly disturbing fashion. But first: a summary! The movie begins with two…
Day 4: Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Posted in2016 31 Days of Horror Classics

Day 4: Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Welcome back for Day 4 of our 31 Days of Horror series! This review will lead the charge into the beginning of a new decade: the 1930s. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love pre-code films. I won't bore you with a long-winded ode to the popcorn-munching, wine-drinking watchability of these early '30s movies, but I do want to say one thing before moving on to my actual review. In case you are not familiar with the difference in what studios could get away with pre- and post-Motion Picture Production Code, it's an interesting concept to keep in mind as we…
Day 3: Faust (1926)
Posted in2016 31 Days of Horror Classics

Day 3: Faust (1926)

Okay, readers. I confessed to you yesterday that silent films usually aren't my thing. TODAY, however, I'm going to make a little amendment to that statement. I find silent dramas pretty hard to sit through in general, but I actually, surprisingly loved this movie. F.W. Murnau's Faust is, as you might have guessed via remembrances of your high school English class, an adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's Elizabethan tragedy play, Doctor Faustus. I'll be honest: prior to watching this movie, I didn't remember much about Doctor Faustus. I could recall that it involved a pact with the devil, and that there was a questionable exchange of youth/beauty for…